Peter Meinertzhagen, a legend in the world of corporate broking, was known for his straight-talking style, his passion for his clients, and his loyalty to a firm where he spent 42 years.

Born in to a distinguished City family – his father was a chairman of Lazard Brothers and Royal Insurance, while his uncle was senior partner at Cazenove – Meinertzhagen joined Hoare Govett as a 19-year-old trainee straight from school. He stayed with the firm 42 years, through its acquisition first by Security Pacific, then ABN Amro.

Michael Marks, the founding partner of NewSmith and a former executive chairman of Merrill Lynch in Europe, Middle East and Africa, said: "You couldn't get a nicer guy. Even when you sat at the other end of the table in a negotiation, the lasting impression you get of Peter was that whatever he said you could trust. That is what clients felt, frankly."

Mark Astaire, now vice-chairman of investment banking at Barclays who worked with Meinertzhagen at Hoare Govett, added: "The respect people held for him was actually matched by the affection they had for him. That is pretty rare. There are a lot of people in the City who are feared or respected, but aren't necessarily liked. Peter was liked as much as he was respected."

Known to colleagues and clients as Meinertz, he became a formidable equity salesman, often accounting for a significant market share personally, according to one former colleague, before moving in to corporate broking.

In his new role, Meinertzhagen worked closely with some of the UK's most prolific dealmakers, such as Lord Hanson and Lord White – the ambitious duo who created Hanson plc through the 1980s with a series of high-profile acquisitions. He was also instrumental behind the scenes helping pull together Glaxo's merger with Wellcome Trust and then with SmithKline Beecham.

In a 2000 interview, Lord Hanson said Meinertzhagen embodied the essential quality of a leader. He said at the time: "I could always confide in Meinertzhagen, and his impartial advice would be based on my needs, not his."

He was known for his straight-talking style, telling clients as he saw it, regardless of whether it was something they wanted to hear. That direct style was coupled with "an incredible passion" for looking after his clients, according to a number of former colleagues.

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Nigel Mills, chairman of corporate broking at Citigroup, said: "With Peter you always got a view. We’re now in an era where people hedge what they say, but Peter's style was always to be very direct in what he thought, and clients tended to applaud him for doing so. He was very straight, of the highest integrity with clear views, and he wasn't tactical in how or when he said them."

Oliver Pawle, chairman of Korn/Ferry International's board services practice, who as head of broking at Warburg was one of a triumvirate of leading brokers with Meinertzhagen and David Mayhew at Cazenove, agreed.

He said: "He did it in a very constructive and thoughtful way. That sort of advice has largely disappeared, and the City is all the poorer for it. It is a huge loss to the City I remember, which is one where integrity and advice was really properly valued."

In 2004, he decided it was time to retire from day-to-day broking and took a part time consultancy role with the business. However, he returned just one year later after he had received a call from Wilco Jiskoot, his boss at ABN Amro, while playing golf in La Manga. The call was to tell him that Citigroup had raided the bank’s Hoare Govett corporate broking arm for its chief executive Nigel Mills and six managing directors. Meinertzhagen later said that day was "the worst day of my career".

He came straight out of semi-retirement and back to Hoare Govett, where he rolled up his sleeves and worked day and night to keep clients and win back brokers to whom Citi had made offers. A year later, Paul Nicholls was hired from Credit Suisse, allowing Meinertzhagen to once again take a step back from management. He left the firm in 2007.

Many of his former colleagues and peers draw attention to his loyalty to Hoare Govett.

Russell Edey, part of the advisory team at Rothschild that worked with Lord Hanson in the 1980s, and until recently a member of the supervisory board of Paris Orleans, added: "He was an amusing chap to be with. He called a spade a spade. I admired the way through the difficult times at Hoare Govett, Peter was the fellow who held it together. I thought he was quite remarkable in the way he did that."

Marks at NewSmith said: "When Hoare got itself into a bit of a pickle, Peter could have gone anywhere in terms of job and remuneration. That was not his motivation in life. He wanted to stay with a firm that he helped create and build, and he did it brilliantly. He was one of the old-fashioned City gentleman."

In 2010, he became a non-executive director of Oriel Securities, which as recently as this spring was rumoured to be considering buying Hoare Govett from RBS, potentially reuniting him with the firm again. Instead, Hoare Govett was acquired by Jefferies.

Outside the office, he was a keen shot – he had been shooting in the West Country last week – but his real passions were golf and horse racing, with visits to Cheltenham a particular favourite.

Described as a perfectionist who at his best played golf off a handicap in the single figures, Meinertzhagen would play regularly with clients.

Mike Turner, chairman of Babcock, who was a client of Meinertzhagen while chief executive of BAE Systems, recalls one occasion where the two played golf on Long Island. The host, finding his name too difficult to pronounce, introduced Meinertzhagen as “Peter Alphabet”.

He said: "Peter was delighted to be playing with an airline president as his partner for the afternoon competition who was given a handicap of 50. Peter believed that with his low handicap and his partner’s 50 that they had a really good chance of winning the afternoon competition. However, his partner used most of the 50 shots on the first tee. Peter was not impressed.”

At the races, he was a member of horse racing syndicates, and was known to enjoy a flutter, with the Derby weekend a fixed date in his calendar.

However, he will be best remembered for his inestimable influence on the world of corporate broking, with a number of departments led at a senior level by those who worked with him.

One former colleague said: "He believed in doing business a particular way. There is an enormous Hoare Govett diaspora around the City, and there are a lot of people in senior position running corporate broking departments, running firms, who were influenced by his approach to business. He was a really good man. He touched a lot of people's careers in a very nice way."

-- This article has been updated to reflect that Russell Edey is no longer a member of the supervisory board of Paris Orleans.